Warmth - One Shot
by Dawn E. Hawkes
Summary: A little bit of Haurchefluff. M - just as a precaution.


_WARMTH_

He had always been so sweet, so gentle. Perhaps even overly affectionate, even to the point some might have considered him obsessed. But right now, she didn't care. As she became conscious of where she was again after the nightmare, her face damp with tears, she recognized the familiar smell of him in the room, and felt the warmth of a taller male form pressed gently against her back, strong but tender arms about her as he quietly whispered calming words into her ear.

Her pose lost some of its rigidity as her body lulled into a feeling of safety and security. He was there, and she was safe. She wasn't alone in the darkness and the pain anymore. Carefully, she turned over in his arms to look at him, face to face with the white-haired Elezen she'd come to know so well, taking in his familiar features.

"Haurchefant…I…"

The man shifted himself, sitting up only slightly enough to lean over her a little, one hand stroking through her hair in a comforting fashion. The gesture combined with the warm look that lay in his blue eyes; that look of complete devotion; shook her to the core and brought more tears to her eyes.

He'd always been there for her, no matter what.

"Shhh, Milady. Don't cry." Haurchefant's thumb brushed over her cheek to capture and wipe away the tears that emerged as he closed in and pressed his forehead to her own. It was a sweet gesture. "It's alright. I'm here. It was just a dream."

Choking back another sob, she wrapped her arms about his midsection tightly, clinging to him and almost refusing to let go. He was an anchor in the storm of emotions that still tore through her. Fear, pain. Mingling feelings from a nightmare that had plucked at the darker parts of her past like the strings of a well-played instrument. Still stroking her hair, he settled against her gently, careful not to pin her under his weight. She had roused him from bed, she realized, as he only wore pants, his chest and feet bare. He'd come to her aid with only enough to make himself presentable. The heat of his body permeated her through her meager sleeping garments, and added to his touch and his gentle words, she slowly felt herself growing calm in his arms, tucked against him like a distressed child.

Softly, he nuzzled her face with his own, and she relaxed against him further. There was something about being there, so close to him, which was salve on the pain she'd been pushing back for so long. Memories of every subsequent failure that had been the track record of her time as the 'warrior of light' wiped away with the care of this man. With a low sigh, she returned the action, relinquishing any doubts in her mind as she let this tender moment ease away the remaining anxiety and fear that had held her in its clutches during her nightmare.

With a quiet sound uttered not unlike her own, Haurchefant pulled back enough to look down at her once more, giving her a gentle smile. "Better?" He asked quietly. "Should I make you some cocoa?"

As if out of sudden fear that he was planning to depart, she tightened her grip about his waist. Exhaling quickly as if she'd knocked the wind from him, a light laugh filled the small room. "I'm not going anywhere, don't worry." He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, knuckle grazing her skin, and the affection in his gaze caused a faint fluttering of her heart's pace.

Blue eyes looked back into hers with fondness as his knuckles grazed her skin a second time, but slower, his head tilted faintly to the side as if he was trying to hear something far off. Had he heard her heartbeat quicken? She had done the best she could to hide the depth of her attachment to him, this wasn't the first time he'd elicited this sort of reaction from her, though she'd tried to squash them, keep them secret. The contact caused heat to creep into her face, and her breath caught as he stared down at her more intently. She swallowed thickly as her mouth suddenly went dry; the mood in the room had suddenly shifted. The warmth was still there, but it mingled with something else. Opening her lips to speak, she tried to say something, but was gently cut off as he dipped his head and his lips brushed with feather softness against her own for the first time.

Heat flooded her body, a tremble running up along her spine as a small sound was uttered deep in her throat. Her heart began to thud softly in her ears. Pulling back, he looked at her only momentarily before leaning in to complete the action again with a hint more firmness in the contact, as if he was hesitantly gauging her reaction. Her ability to speak was gone completely after the second kiss, more firm but just as sweet as the first. With uncertainty, she met the next kiss lightly as his lips descended to pluck at hers again, drawing a quiet moan from him.

With a shiver, he huskily uttered her name, his lips moving to cover hers more squarely and with a hint more passion than before. Haurchefant slid his arms about her, one hand moving up along her back to cradle the back of her head, fingers tangled into her hair. The other was at the small of her back, smoothly coaxing her closer as his lips began to slowly devour her own. This kiss wasn't rough, or frenzied, but a slow smolder that consumed her with its intensity.

Soft lips moved against one another, searching until they were both breathless from their indulgence. Breaking the kiss, he sighed warmly and rested his forehead against her own, trying to recover, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to regain himself.

"Haurchefant…"

"I know. Forgive me, that was impulsive…"

Shaking her head rapidly, she slid her fingers to tangle into his hair, coaxing him down to her and meeting him halfway to kiss him again, the act soft and searching. Haurchefant drew in a shaky breath quickly, a sigh following the sound, and his voice was quiet between the gentle pulling of her lips against his.

"Milady, are you… certain…"

The only answer she offered him was a deepening of the kiss, and it was all he needed. Clutching her to him tightly once more, the fervor of their previous kiss was renewed. Lips parted, tongues exploring the inside of the other's mouths as they began to ease into the actions without hesitation. With a low rumble in his throat, he struggled to move the blankets that had been wound about her, the only other thing between her and him besides her pajamas, and slide his hand up her nightshirt to press his palm against her soft skin, eliciting a quiet cry as his mouth moved from her own to her chin and eased along her throat.

She awoke in that moment to the sensation of snowflakes landing on the back of her neck. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she slowly sat up, her muscles complaining at the awkward way she had fallen asleep in the cold, though the ache went ignored as sorrow and pain tugged at her heartstrings again as she remembered why she was there. Slowly, she began to clear away the snow from the small stone monument that had been her temporary pillow. Task complete, she rested her head against the cold stone again, trying to fight back tears as they threatened to consume her, though she wasn't sure that she had any tears left to cry. She hadn't even had the chance to tell him how she felt.

"I miss you…" She murmured quietly to no one, slowly tracing her fingertips over the letters that marked his grave. "Rest in peace… friend."


End file.
